The Bell Jar: Aspects of Theme

Sylvia Plath’s, The Bell Jar, is a first person novel about a young woman’s struggles through life with severe mental illness. Contrary to a classic coming-of-age story, Esther Greenwood, the protagonist, lives her life entirely detached from anyone and anything. Although Esther attends an all women’s college in New York, is a remarkably amazing student, and is surrounded by a wealthy, glamorous lifestyle, she is incapable of having positive emotions towards her life. Many consider The Bell Jar autobiographical because Plath herself was severely depressed; this cast a dark, pessimistic tone over the novel. Like Plath, Esther is unable to find meaning in her -what would seem to be-successful life because of her immense depression. The prominent theme in this novel is Ester’s inability to direct her life with healthy progression. Her helplessness intensifies her feelings of depression and leaves her isolated from her peers and unable to grasp healthy relationships.

In the beginning of the novel Esther is in college by a scholarship through a women’s high fashion magazine program. The setting during this period of her life is very high class and she is expected to act peppy and courteous like the girls she lives with. The setting strengthens the theme of novel, and Ester’s somber, pessimistic life, by showing a dramatic contrast between Esther’s outlook on existence and the outlook of her peers. Esther is entirely uninterested in the fashion magazine and her other courses even though she is at the top of her class. Setting as well as tone are the main devices Plath uses to support the central theme. Plath’s grave tone in the story is dominant due to her own depression. Because of Plath’s choice of a first person perspective, Esther’s constant thoughts of hopelessness create a cynical tone throughout the entirety of the book that supports the theme.